Worthy Christian News > World News > U.S. Slashes Syria Troop Count, Intensifies Anti-ISIS Focus

U.S. Slashes Syria Troop Count, Intensifies Anti-ISIS Focus

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The United States will reduce its military presence in Syria to fewer than 1,000 troops in the coming months, Pentagon officials said Friday, as it consolidates forces to reflect the evolving mission to defeat ISIS.

“Recognizing the success the United States has had against ISIS, including its 2019 territorial defeat under President Trump, today the Secretary of Defense directed the consolidation of U.S. forces in Syria under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve to select locations in Syria,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

“This consolidation reflects the significant steps we have made toward degrading ISIS’ appeal and operational capability regionally and globally.”

While the Pentagon didn’t specify how many troops will be withdrawn, The New York Times reported about 600 personnel are expected to leave.

Officials said the drawdown will take place “in the coming months,” though no exact timeline was given.

The withdrawal of 600 troops would return U.S. force levels in Syria to pre-2023 levels, around 900, maintained to prevent an ISIS resurgence and curb Iranian-backed arms trafficking.

Troop numbers had surged to over 2,000 after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, as U.S. forces came under increased threat from Iran-backed terrorist proxies across the region.